Haunted
by xcaitienicholex
Summary: Emma has been haunted by the memories of her angry, drunk father. They scare her to no end. Will James be able to save her from them?


_**So here is the one-shot I was talking about. I actually changed the plot from what I had originally wrote it to be. I gave it a little more of a supense theme instead of a sappy love story.**_

_**Inspired a little by Taylor Swift's song Haunted. **_

_**Disclaimer; I do not Taylor's song, or Big Time Rush. Only the OC.**_

_**Hope you enjoy(:**_

_**-Caitie**_

* * *

Emma Jennings sat by the Palm Woods just like every other day. She laughed as she watched the boys from Big Time Rush joke around and push each other into the pool. She had met them about two months ago when she first came to the Palm Woods. She was an aspiring actress in hopes of making it big, just like everyone else there. At first, it was all so intimidating. She was competing with a lot of these people just to get a minor role but when she met the guys and learned that it didn't have to be like that; they could all be friends. She had a few auditions since she had arrived; nothing too major, though. She hadn't gotten any yet but she didn't get discouraged. She was having a good time just hanging out.

James Diamond swam over to the side of the pool and puts his hands on the concrete. He smiled up at Emma. "You gonna join us?" he asked splashing her a little. She bit her lip and shook her head. "Aw, why not? Are you chicken?"

She laughed at him. "No, I just have an audition later." She stood, ready to leave. James reached up and grabbed her foot and pulled her in the pool. She let out a squeal as she splashed down in the water. She popped up out of the water and gasped for air. The guys all laughed at her. She glared at James, who was now retreating to the other side of the pool. "I HATE YOU, JAMES!" He laughed and ran up the steps and out of the pool. She followed him into the lobby then finally tackled him to the ground before he made it to the elevators. They both laughed and rolled over to find Mr. Bitters glaring down at them.

"Why are you dripping all over my lobby floors?" he yelled at them. They tried to suppress their laughter as they stood up to face him. No matter what they did, they always seemed to make him angry. Which was actually quite funny, if you asked Emma. These are the kind of funny antics that made her sane.

They made their way towards the elevators then went their separate ways when they got to their floor. Emma smiled to herself as she opened the door to her apartment. Closing the door behind her, she set her wet keys on the kitchen counter. She didn't like being in the apartment. It was really lonely. Ever since she was became an emancipated minor, that's how she felt; lonely. She missed her older sisters, Anna and Jenna. She always thought her mom was slightly weird for giving all her daughters names that ended in 'a.' But now that she thought about it, it was actually really cute. She missed her mom, too; she just couldn't live in that house anymore. There were too many bad memories; memories she wished she could forget. Luckily, her sisters were already out of the house by the time any of the terrible stuff happened. She didn't want them to have to go through with all of that.

It was times like these that she wished they were here with her; so she could keep her mind off of them. The memories haunted her. She had frequent nightmares about them; like she was reliving them all over again. She would wake up thinking she was back in her old house back in San Diego; thinking the yelling and screaming was all real. Some days she wouldn't even fall asleep for the fear of the dreams.

Flipping the T.V. on, she got out a bag of popcorn and put it in the microwave. She walked over to the couch and flopped down. She suddenly had that feeling that someone was watching her. She bit her lip and smiled. The guys liked to play pranks on her and scare her sometimes. She quickly got up and turned around, expecting to see Kendall, Logan, Carlos, or James. But it wasn't any of them. She swallowed hard as she looked at his stone-like face. He was smirking back at her.

"D-dad?" she asked, her voice shaking. He walked towards her. "How did you find me?"

"I have my ways," he slurred. He was obviously drunk. She turned away from him. He grabbed her wrist and turned her back to face him. He squeezed her wrist tightly. She winced in pain and tried to pull away. She could smell the alcohol on his breath. The smell made her want to puke.

"Please, stop," she cried but he just squeezed tighter. She looked away from him.

"You look at me when I'm trying to talk to you," he said. She looked back at him with tears in her eyes. With her free hand she reached in her pocket until she felt her cell phone. She pressed speed dial 1, which just happened to be James. Her father slapped her across the face and the phone fell out of her pocket. He didn't even notice it. She just wanted someone to hear what was going on. She knew she was too weak to do anything herself.

James picked up his ringing cell phone as he was combing his already perfect hair. At first he didn't hear anything, then he heard yelling and crying. He looked at the caller I.D. It was Emma. He listened more closely to what was going on.

"How you could leave like that? Your mother has done nothing but cried since you left. You're a little bitch." It was a man's voice. He faintly heard the sound of slapping.

"I'm sorry. Please, just leave me alone," Emma pleaded. She was sobbing.

"No, not until you get what you've deserved. You've ruined our family." James heard a loud thud and the crying was closer to the phone. "Shut up and stop crying!" He couldn't listen any longer; he had to do something. He hung up then quickly called the police. He gave them the address and asked them to hurry. He pulled a shirt on and ran out of the bathroom. He walked out of the apartment.

"Hey, James what's-" Logan was cut off my the door slamming. The other two boys gave him confused looks and shrugged. James frequently did dramatic things so they just let it go. James ran down the hallway until he got to Emma apartment. He tried to open the door, but it was locked. He looked all over for her spare key. He knew she kept it in the hallway; but never knew where. She always changed the hiding spot so no one would find it.

He heard more yelling from the other side of the door. He became furious. He took a few steps back then rammed his shoulder against the door. It wouldn't budge. He tried a few more times. Finally, the door flew open. He saw Emma laying on the floor, crying and bloody, and a man kneeling over her, his fist pulled back, ready to hit her. James lunged forward and tackled the large man.

"James!" he heard Emma yell. He and the man wrestled around for a minute, but the man was too strong for James. He had him pinned down and pulled his fist back again. He punched him several times in the face. The pain was terrible. He knew he probably had a broken nose, a few chipped teeth, and a black eye. He couldn't open his left eye because it was swollen shut.

Emma screamed at her father and tried to push him away from James but he just back-handed her. She didn't want to move but James looked like he was in so much pain. It hurt her to see him like that. She got back up and shoved him, again. Before he could do anything, the room was filled with police officers. Two of them pulled her father off of James. She knelt down beside him, tears blurring her vision. He winced as he sat up. She grabbed his hand and held it tightly. He reached up and smoothed her hair down. Another police officer and a paramedic knelt down beside them. The paramedic examined James' face then examined Emma. The police officer asked them many questions about her father and Emma told him everything that happened.

They took them both to the hospital. Kendall, Logan, Carlos, Mrs. Knight, and Katie were all there. Emma wrist was broken and James' nose was broken. Emma walked into James' hospital room. He was still a little disoriented from being hit several times. She sat on his bed and stroked his hair.

"James."

"Emma." They said at the same time. They both laughed. "You go first," he said taking her hand in his.

"I just want to thank you. You didn't have to do that. You didn't have to fight for me. I probably deserved all of this," she said, quietly crying.

"You didn't deserve any of that, Em. Don't ever think that. That guy was an asshole to you," James replied. Emma nodded and laid down beside him. He wrapped an arm around her waist.

"What did you want to tell me?" she asked, her head resting on his chest.

"When I heard the way your dad was talking to you, something inside me snapped. I've never had that kind of feeling before."

"What feeling?" She looked up at him with a questioning look.

"Passion...Love," he said kissing her forehead. "I love you, Emma."

She closed her eyes and smiled. "Thank you, James. I love you, too." She knew what she said was true. For the first time in her life, she wasn't haunted by those memories. They were gone. She knew James would be there to protect her from them.


End file.
